Fright Nights At Tewksbury Library This Summer

Fine Print: Events are free and open to all adults and older teens.  Events are sponsored by the Friends of the Tewksbury Public Library.  Events are held in the Tewksbury Public Library's Meeting Room.  Seating is limited, so registration is strongly recommended.  Call 978-640-4490 x 205 or click on the "LEARN MORE AND REGISTER" link to register.  Book signing held after each event for those interested.

- TUESDAY, JUNE 11, 8pm -- History of Vampires in New England with Thomas D'Agostino: New England is rich in history and mystery.  Numerous sleepy little towns and farming communities distinguish the region's scenic tranquility.  But not long ago, New Englanders lived in fear of spectral ghouls believed to rise from their graves and visit family members in the night to suck their lives away.  Although the word "vampire" was never spoken, scores of families dug up buried loved ones during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries searching for telltale signs that one of them might be what is now reffered to as the New England vampire.  LEARN MORE and REGISTER.

- TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 8pm -- Witches, Pop Culture & The Past with Dr. Robin DeRosa: In 1692 in Salem, 19 people were executed and hundreds imprisoned during a witch hunt we still discuss today in everyday conversation, pop culture, and American literature.  History, tourism, and performance collide when Salem tells its witch stories.  "Truth" -- both moral and macabre -- vies with spooky thrills for its authentic place in history.  LEARN MORE and REGISTER.

- WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 8pm -- Haunted Hikes of New Hampshire with Marianne O'Connor: Explore the haunts of hikers gone by and see for yourself whether these ghost tales are fact or fiction.  "Haunted Hikes" provides both storied history and fanciful legend within the trails of New Hampshire's White Mountains and beyond.  Hikes are rated according to difficulty and spookiness with something for every member of the family.  From a brisk walk to the tombstone of Ichabod Crain in Surry to a fierce 3-hour treck to a downed bomber plane in North Woodstock, be prepared to go the "willies."  LEARN MORE AND REGISTER.  (Library's Meeting Room is used for voting on TUESDAY, June 25.)

- TUESDAY, JULY 2, 8pm -- Massachusetts Cemeteries - Legends and Lore with Roxie Zwicker: Massachusetts's historic graveyards are the final resting places for tales of the strange and supernatural.  From Newburyport to Truro, these graveyards often frighten the living, but the dead who rest within them have stories to share with the world they left behind.  While Giles Corey is said to haunt the Howard Street Cemetery in Salem, cursing those involved in the infamous witch trials, visitors to the Forset Hills Cemetery in Jamacia Plain enjoy an arboretum and a burial ground with Victorian-era memorials.  Author Roxie Zwicker tours the Bay State's oldest burial grounds, exploring the stones, stories and supernatural lore of these hallowed places. LEARN MORE AND REGISTER.

- TUESDAY, JULY 9, 8pm -- Interpreting Your Nightmares with Jeff Belanger: Learn about the paranormal in your sleep, what your dreams mean, and the symbols and archetypes of our dream world.  We spend a third of our lives sleeping, with much of the night filled with dreams.  Peculiarly vivid, disturbing dreams leave behind impressions that are hard to dismiss.  But what are nightmares?  And what significance do they have for the dreamer?  Questions like these have been asked and answered in all time periods in all of the world's cultures.  Examine ideas about bad dreams found in different parts of the world, in different periods of Western history, in recent clinical research, in current theories of the occult, and in popular films.  LEARN MORE AND REGISTER.

- TUESDAY, JULY 16, 8pm -- Massachusetts - Wicked, Weird and Wonderful with J.W. Ocker: Get an insider's look to the wicked, weird and wonderful Massachusetts!  The Bay State is full of the macabre, the grim and the ghastly -- all of it is worth visitng, for the traveler who dares!  Hear firsthand accounts of nearly 50 sites throughout our state.  Sites involve: legends and personalities of the macabre; infamous crimes and killers; dreadful tragedies; horror movie locales; notable cemeteries and gravestones; intriguing "memento mori;" and classic monsters.  LEARN MORE AND REGISTER.

- TUESDAY, JULY 23, 8pm -- Celebrate 100 Days Until Halloween with Lesley Bannatyne: In "100 Days Until Halloween: Behind the Scenes of America's Fright Night," Lesley Bannatyne traces Halloween from its tiny origins in northwestern Europe through its recent explosion in popularity in the United States.  Drawing on research from her latest book, "Halloween Nation," Lesley looks at everything from pumpkin beer to monster culture to Halloween tattoos to horror films to highlight who celebrates Halloween and what makes it so important to so many people.  LEARN MORE AND REGISTER.

- TUESDAY, JULY 30, 8pm -- Zombies 101 - Be Prepared with Steven Schlozman & Peter Cummings: Steven Schlozman, MD and Peter Cummings, MD - leaders in the world of zombie scholarship and board members of the Zombie Research Society - will discuss their knoweldge of and passion for zombies.  Dr. Steven Schlozman is Co-Director of the Medical Student Education in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and author of "The Zombie Autopsies," a novel that follows an elite medical team as they investigate the biology of zombies in the face of a global undead plague.  Dr. Peter Cummings is the Director of Forensic Neuropathology at the Boston office of the Massachusetts Medical Examiner, and author of "The Neuropathology of Zombies," a novel that follows autopsies carried out on zombies in hopes of uncovering the shocking truth behind the zombification process.  LEARN MORE AND REGISTER.

- TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 8pm -- Intro to Tarot Card Reading with Sally Cragin: Curious about Tarot cards and how to use them for readings?  In this entertaining and informative presentation, writer Sally Cragin will introduce you to this fascinating pastime.  There will be a discussion on the history of the cards, the meaning of the "suits" (pentacles or discs, swords, wands and cups), and the "Trump" or Major Arcana cards.  If you have a Ryder-Waite deck, bring it along.  This program is for beginners, experienced readers, and curious folks.  LEARN MORE AND REGISTER.

- TUESDAY, AUGUST 13, 8pm -- An Evening with Edgar Allan Poe: Master of the Macabre with Rob Velella: Spend an evening with Edgar Allan Poe and listen to him recite some of his horror masterpieces.  The name "Poe" brings to mind images of murderers and madmen, premature burials, and mysterious women who return from the dead.  His works have been in print since 1827, and include literary classics as "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Raven," and "The Fall of the House of Usher."  Born in Boston, this versatile writer's oeuvre includes short stories, poetry, a novel, a textbook, a book of scientific theory, and hundreds of essays and book reviews.  Poe is widely acknowledged as the inventor of the modern detective story and an innovator in the science fiction genre, but he made his living as America's first great literary critic and theoretician.  Poe's reputation today rests primarily on his tales of terror as well as on his haunting lyric poetry.  LEARN MORE AND REGISTER.

- TUESDAY, AUGUST 20, 8pm -- Ghosts of Boston - Haunts of the Hub with Sam Baltrusis: It should come as no surprise that one of the nation's oldest cities brims with spirits of those who lived and died in its hundreds of years of tumultuous history.  Boston boasts countless stories of the supernatural.  Many students at Boston College have encountered an unearthly hound that haunts the O'Connell House to this day.  Be on the watch for an actor who sits in on rehearsals on Huntington Theatre and restless spirits rumored to haunt Boston Common at night.  From the Victorian brownstones of Back Bay to the shores of the Boston Harbor Islands, there is hardly a corner of the Hub where the paranormal cannot be experienced.  LEARN MORE AND REGISTER.

- TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 8pm -- Haunted History of New England with Christopher Daley: Enjoy a multimedia presentation that melds historical fact together with legend and myth to produce an interesting and fascinating new look at events that really happened and the stories of haunting that followed them.  Topics addressed include: "The Vampire of Exeter Rhode Island" Mercy Brown; the Cursed Freetown State Forest; the Haunted Hoosac Tunnel in Western Massachusetts; the Ghosts of Lizzie Borden House in Fall River; the Ghosts of King Philip's War: Nine Men's Misery; the Mount Washington Hotel in New Hampshire; Giles Corey and the Curse of Salem; Burial Hill in Plymouth; and the John Alden House in Duxbury.  LEARN MORE AND REGISTER.